Research 

Scaling up early childhood development (ECD) (0-4 years) in South Africa 

The paper reflects on a study undertaken by HSRC as part of a much larger policy research programme on Scaling up Early Childhood Development (ECD) service delivery aimed at improving the evidence base supporting government's implementation of its vision for scaling up quality ECD for children 0 - 4 years as well as expanding employment opportunities in the ECD sector as outlined in the National Integrated Plan for Early Childhood Development in South Africa, 2005 - 2010 (NIP). The aim of this exercise was essentially to develop a proposal as to how government (and the provincial departments of social development in particular) might frame bids to provide subsidies to the providers of home- and community-based services. The absence of a regulatory or support framework or dedicated funding allocation for community and home-based programme is seriously impacting on efforts to scale up ECD services. For government to fund such services norms and standards are essential along with clearly defined application procedures. The HSRC study was initiated with the aim of supporting government in development of a funding model for home and community-based ECD programmes. The paper outlines the approach and process undertaken towards the development of such a model and outlines some of the critical issues and challenges that need to be resolved in developing a funding model and shares key findings from the study. The paper concludes with some recommendations towards the development of a funding model. 

Paper Prepared for the Pan African Early Childhood Development Conference, September 2010